Nick Fink's bar joins Gilmore Collection

Press Photos/Jon M. BrouwerCo-owner Mike Fink is part of the sixth generation of Finks to work at Nick Fink's Bar and Cocktail Lounge in Comstock Park.P

COMSTOCK PARK -- A landmark building with six generations of family ownership, the past 60 as a neighborhood bar, will get a new look as it becomes part of another local family of businesses, the Gilmore Collection.

Nick Fink's Bar, at West River and Lamoreaux drives NE, will be renovated in coming months under ownership of the Grand Rapids-based group that operates 13 restaurants in the area. Gilmore Collection is buying the building, business and liquor license.

Greg Gilmore, CEO of the group, is excited about preserving another building with a "long and storied history." He hopes to expand the customer base with regional residents and people looking for an alternative to chains.

It's all about preservation and rehabilitation," Gilmore said about plans for the 120-year-old building. "It's another great neighborhood and another great historic structure with a lot of character. It may not look like it now, but it does have character."

One long-time regular said whether he keeps coming will depend on the atmosphere -- and the prices.

The patron, who gave his name only as "Blue Ribbon Bob," said he has been going to Nick Fink's for about 40 years to chat with friends about work and sports. He's not sure yet if he'll continue, he said.

"We'll see what happens. If it gets too fancy, no," he said. "It depends on the price of the beer, too."

The Gilmore Collection plans to keep a bar and add food service at Nick Fink's, but it will not have a sit-down restaurant or the fare of Gilmore's other restaurants, such as Bite, Blue Water Grill, Mangiamo! and the eight establishments at The B.O.B.

A safe and cooler, about 90 years old, are still in use.

The 35 second-floor rooms will be leased for offices.

Brothers and owners Mike Fink and Nick Fink are not happy to see the 9,000-square-foot building change hands. Six generations of the same family have worked there. Their great-great-grandfather built it.

"When I leave and they take over, I won't ever come back," said Mike Fink.

He said business has been down, and expenses are up.

The site's history is shared in the Public Museum of Grand Rapids with a soda fountain counter and at the Gerald R. Ford Museum with pictures of a former owner flying off the roof in a bike fitted with box-kite wings. (He crashed into a telegraph pole and broke his arm.)

The building was the location of the Riverside Hotel, a barber shop, post office and apparently a brothel, Mike Fink said, judging from photos he found.

The bar will remain open and "evolve" as McGraw Construction Inc. renovates it, starting in October, Gilmore said.

Gilmore hopes to draw a mix of neighborhood residents, people from the region and motorists from Alpine Avenue NW.

"They'll have a local, independent place, instead of a chain on Alpine," he said.